How to Buy Furniture Online: 10 Tips!

Have you ever found a furniture piece you love online but were too scared to pull the trigger? Buying furniture online is a whole different ball game from buying it in-store. I’ve admittedly made my share of mistakes with online orders in my 20+ years as a home owner. But I learned a ton from those past mistakes and now consider myself a pretty savvy online furniture shopper because I know what to look for to have confidence in my buying decisions.

Today I’m sharing ten tips of how to buy furniture online without having post-purchase regrets! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement is available {here})

1. Suss Out the Store

When you’re shopping for furniture online and find the perfect thing on a site you’ve never heard of before, how do you know whether to trust it? There are definitely some shady home furnishing sites out there so as smart online shoppers, you need to take a few minutes to determine how trustworthy the site is. Using the example of a new-to-me online shop I recently came across (Coley Home – they have such pretty things!), these are 7 things to look at to help ensure a site is safe to shop:

1. Look for a padlock immediately in front of the website address. A padlock means that the communication between your browser and the website are encrypted and secure. You never want to enter credit card information on a site that doesn’t have this.

2. Click on the site’s “about” page and look for grammatical and/or spelling errors. Many spammy sites are foreign sites posing as US sites and you’ll find that the grammar & spelling are off. Coley Home has a well-written “about” page with details on the company’s founder & even a timeline for their small business.

3. Click on the site’s contact page to confirm that they list a phone number. If they’re only reachable by email or via a contact form, it’s doesn’t mean they’re definitely shady (some legitimate small businesses are only reachable by email), but it does make me more wary & needing to investigate further. Checking Coley Home’s site, I found that they can be contacted via live chat, phone, or email.

4. Check out their Facebook and/or Instagram pages to see how long they’ve been posting, if they have a decent number of followers & engagement, and if they allow comments on their posts (accounts that don’t allow comments are a big red flag – usually it’s because they have a lot of unsatisfied customers). I checked out Coley Home’s Instagram account which checks off all the boxes:

5. Check out the age of their website by clicking {this domain checker}, entering the website address, and clicking “check domain age”. Most spammy sites are on websites that haven’t been around very long. Doing this for Coley Home, I found that they’ve had their website address for about 4 years:

(Note: I’ve found that sometimes this domain checker is unable to determine the domain age and will return a “0 years, 0 months” so that’s not a concerning result, it just means it doesn’t have the information)

6. Enter the website address into Google Safe browsing {here} to see if any known issues. Even legitimate websites can get hacked and have safety issues.

7. And last but not least, check out the return policy to make sure it’s reasonable. I never buy from websites that have a blanket statement of “no returns accepted”. Coley Home’s return policy is reasonable, with no returns on custom orders unless there are defects and 30 day returns on bedding.

Coley Home passed the “is this site legit?” test with 7 out of 7 so they’re a green light to shop (which is honestly pretty dangerous because they have so many pretty things 😂).

2. Read Product Reviews

Once you’ve green-lighted the shop’s website, it’s on to figuring out whether the item you’re looking at is a winner. When I shop online, I rely heavily on product reviews from past purchasers when they’re available. Don’t just look at how many stars that particular product has, but actually read the reviews. It’s typically the poor reviews (1-3 stars) that are the most helpful. You might find that a bad review is due to something unrelated to product quality such as an issue with the delivery person. But you might also find that there’s a common thread among the bad reviews such as the color being completely different than the website describes or the quality of the item being poor.

I also love sites like Wayfair that allow reviewers to upload their own photos – I always look at any reviewer photos that are available because it’s crazy how different a product can sometimes look in “real life” vs. in the manufacturer’s photos.

While I wish that all brands had product reviews on their sites, unfortunately that’s not the case. While I can’t help with every brand, I decided to create two Facebook groups where we can share reviews on products from two of my favorite shops that don’t have reviews on their sites, Pottery Barn and Serena & Lily. You can join my Pottery Barn Reviews Facebook page {here}:

and my Serena & Lily Reviews Facebook page {here}:

The more people that join and share reviews on Serena & Lily and Pottery Barn products they own, the better for all of us so spread the word about the groups!

3. Double Check the Measurements

Another must-have tip for how to buy furniture is to check and double check the measurements of anything you’re considering ordering. You don’t want a “woah that looks bigger/smaller than I expected” reaction when the delivery people bring your furniture piece through the door! One of the best ways to visually determine if the size of a product will work in your space is to compare it to something you already have. For example, if you’re looking for a nightstand lamp, measure a lamp you already have in your home, place it where the new nightstand lamp will go, and compare that lamp’s measurements to the lamp you’re thinking of buying – that will give you a good idea of whether the size will work for you.

It also helps to move furniture from one room into another room to see how the size looks in that space, which gives you a guide of what size piece you should be looking for. For example, Jeff doesn’t know it yet but later this week I’m going to move this sideboard from our dining room:

to our in-the-middle-of-construction circus room to see how a piece that long looks in that space. I want to put a console or long chest of drawers in the middle of our longest wall in the circus room and testing out the size of a piece I already have there will help me visualize the ideal length to search for.

Want to avoid other common measurement mistakes? Here are a few other measurements to check:

Make sure that the entryway and any interior doors & hallways your furniture will be delivered through is wide enough to accommodate it. (After we were first married, we ordered a sectional from a local store and never thought to check the dimensions of it vs. the front door width – it barely made it through the door)
When ordering dining chairs with arms, make sure the arms are short enough to fit under your table. You can find other tips for measurements to consider when buying dining room chairs in {this post on dining room measurements}.
Be sure to size your light fixture appropriately for your space – {this post} on choosing light fixtures has great guidelines to follow
Also check out {this post on living room measurements} for tips on choosing coffee tables, end tables, & rugs with the right measurements for your space

4. Create Mood Boards/Mock Ups

Mood boards and mock ups are so helpful when choosing furniture & accessories online. They help ensure both the size and style of an item you’re looking at will work in your space. As an example, I created this mood board for my girls’ bathroom to help me figure out what wallpaper and lighting to choose:

Sources: Beachcomber wallpaper (left) | French linen stripe wallpaper (right) | Vanity light (left) | Vanity light (right) | Medicine cabinet/mirror | Wood bead towel ring | Blush hand towel | 54″ double vanity (see other size options {here}) | Floor tile

I share how I create my interior design mood boards {here} if you’d like some tips on making your own.

5. Snag Swatches & Samples

When there’s an option to order fabric swatches, wallpaper samples, or wood samples, take advantage of it! It can definitely take some of the guesswork out of online orders. One of the larger online furniture purchases that I’ve made is buying {this upholstered bed} for the guest bedroom of our previous home. I was comfortable buying it after reading the online reviews and was planning to order the Linen Talc fabric option based on the pics but decided to order fabric samples to be sure.

I found that the Linen Talc had some brownish strands woven into it that I didn’t love while the Zuma White is a great creamy-but-not-to0-creamy-white:

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I ordered it in the Zuma White and have been super happy with my purchase! I’s a great looking upholstered bed for the price and works so well with my other neutral home decor in this space:

I even bought it a second time for the primary bedroom of our current home (which is currently getting a makeover – stay tuned for that in a few weeks!).

6. Match Your Furniture To Your Lifestyle

It’s tempting to have blinders on when you see a gorgeous piece of furniture online at an awesome price, but a great deal isn’t that great of a deal if it’s not practical for how you live. A huge part of how to buy furniture online without regrets is making sure your purchase matches your lifestyle. If you have young kids and pets, choose performance fabrics for your upholstered pieces, even if it costs a bit more. Or if you need something more budget friendly, choose slipcovered furniture with machine washable fabrics.

As a budget-friendly example, I recently came across {this new sofa} at IKEA that has great style and your choice of three machine washable slipcovers for under $600:

If any of you have sat in it in the store, let us know what you think (there aren’t many online reviews yet)!

7. Consider Construction Quality

Definitely evaluate the construction of a furniture piece before buying to determine if it’s worth the money you’re spending. When buying wood furniture, solid wood is highest quality, veneers are mid-grade, and particle board or composite wood are lowest quality. For upholstered pieces, quality indicators include a hardwood frame (vs. soft wood or particle board), eight-way hand tied springs, and assembly with dowels & screws (vs. glue, staples, & nails). You don’t always need to spend the money for the absolute best quality furniture, but you do need to know the quality of construction of the piece you’re looking at to determine if the asking price is reasonable.

Another thing to realize is that quality is often NOT consistent across all products from a particular online store. For example, I often get asked if I think Wayfair’s furniture is high quality. The reality is that Wayfair sources their furniture from hundreds of different manufacturers so their site includes some high quality pieces, some mid-grade pieces, and some poorly constructed pieces too. The same is true for other stores like Pottery Barn and Target who sell their own branded products but also sell outside products that they have no involvement in producing.

In fact, you can often find the same product across several sites under different names with different prices. For example, {this pretty blue lamp} sold as the “Dasher Glass Table Lamp” at potterybarn.com for $309:

is the same as {this lamp} sold on walmart.com as “Table Lamp with Jug Style Ceramic Base” for $228.97 and {this table lamp} sold on target. com as “Milk Jug Table Lamp with Tapered Shade” for $200.99.

8. Pay Attention to Assembly

Two words that you want to look for in the item description when ordering online are “assembly required”. That could mean a 15 minute assembly job or a 5-hour one depending on the furniture piece (read reviews to figure out which!). I’ve had my eye on a dresser for our guest room that’s been backordered forever so decided to buy an inexpensive assembly-required dresser to use as an interim piece. I let my oldest daughter have input on choosing it since I plan to give it to her for her first apartment once she graduates. We went with {this dresser} that’s fits the space in our guest room well and holds a ton:

We dressed it up a bit by swapping out the knobs it came with for {these inexpensive rattan knobs}:

I’m a weirdo who actually enjoys assembling furniture so an assembly job like this that took a couple of hours didn’t scare me off. But if you’re not handy or don’t want to take the time to assemble something, it’s important to know what you’re getting into before you order (one presumably un-handy reviewer said it took them 6 hours to put this same dresser together! 😳). It’s no fun when a furniture piece you expect to be delivered in a large box with no assembly required shows up on your doorstep in a flat box with a kit including 100+ pieces.

9. Know the Return Policy

This point is huge! One of the most important things when ordering furniture online is to know what the return policy is, including what you’ll be charged for return shipping if you decide to send an item back (if the website doesn’t say, you can typically get that answer via a call or email to them). Some online stores have such crazy high return shipping fees that returning the item is hardly worth it (which I think is what they’re counting on). And some stores offer free shipping to you but if you return the item, you’re charged not only for return shipping but for the original shipping charges too.

One of the reasons I frequently order from Wayfair is that I’ve found their returns to be easy and reasonable. You can initiate a return through a few simple clicks online and return shipping fees are typically much lower than I’d expect. For example, my sister recently ordered a dining chair to try in her home with a plan to order five more if they worked. Unfortunately, the chair was a no-go but Wayfair’s return shipping price was just $13 which is so reasonable (and well worth it to be able to try out something in your space). As another example, I returned a pair of lighting sconces last year and return shipping was a mere $5.o4.

I also like to order online when there is a local store that I can return the item to if it doesn’t work out, such as Pottery Barn and Anthropologie. Note however that this doesn’t typically apply to furniture pieces which usually can’t be returned to a store.

As far as custom orders go, you generally can’t expect to be able to return them but.. some online-only brands have changed that up! For example, Maiden Home is an online-only company that offers high quality direct to consumer furnishings made in North Carolina. They have some really pretty sofas and sectionals including one of my favorites, their Dune sectional:

Their current return policy is that you can return pieces within 30 days of delivery for the full amount minus 10% of your purchase price to cover the pick-up and donation of the piece (see full policy details {here}). Love that!

10. Make Sure It Checks These Three Boxes

My final tip for buying online (or in-store too) is to make sure the item you’re buying checks all three of these boxes:

(1) You love it – You would think that no one would order something they don’t love but it’s so tempting to settle for something that isn’t exactly what you want when you’re sick of shopping around and just want to be done furnishing a room. Don’t do it – be patient and wait! Most of the best rooms are ones where the pieces were collected over time instead of bought all at once anyway.

And if it’s a pricey piece, make sure you’ll love it not just now but for years to come, which for me means picking pieces with a classic, timeless design and neutral finishes. For example, we bought these two plush linen swivel chairs about 15 years ago – at the time it was the most money we had ever spent on furniture:

These chairs have moved with us to three houses now and I still love them! They’re Lee Industries brand chairs that we bought from a local store but Serena & Lily started carrying them a few years ago (their upholstered pieces are made by Lee Industries) so you can now find them online {here}.

(2) It fits your space & lifestyle – see tips #3 & #6 above!

(3) It fits your budget – This one’s a no-brainer but also super important when it comes to how to buy furniture. It’s easy to get wrapped up in finding the most beautiful piece of furniture you’ve ever seen without giving yourself a reality check on whether you can easily afford it. Because as much as you and I love furniture and design, I think we can agree that there are more important things in life – if buying an expensive piece of furniture comes at the expense of a family vacation or the stress of never-ending interest from a balance on a high interest credit card, simply don’t do it. Save your money for a few more years and buy it when it’s not going to be a stress on your household budget. You’ll enjoy that furniture piece all the more when you can buy it with 100% excitement and no stress or lifestyle compromises.

And with that, I’m off to enjoy the rest of my day! Thanks as always for stopping by!